Threats

When many rivals compete, the prize
Waxes more dear in the winner’s eyes,
When another loves the fair maid you seek,
The love grows strong that before was weak,
And the flame that languished bursts forth anew
When eager rivals come near to sue.
The flame fed afresh on Zulaikha’s mind,
And her heart more strongly to Yusuf inclined.
Again she spoke to that lovely band,
Whom love had wounded in heart and hand :
“ If ye think I had reason, forbear to chide
And blame me for love which I could not hide.
The door of friendship is open ; be
Friends in my trouble and prosper me.”
They swept the chords of love’s lute and raised
Their voices in tune and excused and praised.
“ Yes, he is lord of the realm of the soul ;
There his is the right and the sway and control.
What creature that looks— nay, even what stone —
On that lovely face, calls its heart its own ?
If thy love for him be thy sum of distress,
Thine excuse is sufficient, his loveliness.
Breathes there a mortal beneath the sky,
Who can look unmoved on that witching eye ?
The heaven has oft compassed the earth, bat where
Has it seen a darling so bright and fair ?
Thou hast loved the sweet youth, but thou art not to blame,
Thy soul is afire, but thy love is no shame.
May his strong heart touched by thy passion relent,
And shame make thy darling his coldness repent.”
They ceased. On Yusuf their eyes they bent,
And addressed him thus in admonishment :
“ Joy of the age, from the east to the west.
The fame of thy virtue by all is confessed.
This garden, where roses with thorns we see,
Has ne’er grown a rose without thorns like thee.
Stoop down for a little, and add a grace
To that height by descent from thy lofty place.
Zulaikha is dust for thy feet to tread.
Trail thy skirt for awhile where that dust is spread.
How, O pure one ! wilt thou be hurt
By touching the dust for a time with thy skirt ?
One wish has Zulaikha : no longer refuse
To grant the sole favour for which she sues.
If thy wish be to have no desires of thine own,
Oh, leave not the thirsty to languish alone.
She has waited on thee, with thy wishes complied ;
Oh, let not the meed of her love be denied.
Eegard her entreaties, no longer be coy,
For we fear in our hearts, O too beautiful boy,
If thou still wilt rebel and no warning wilt heed,
The fruit in the end will be bitter indeed.
She will wash out thy love from the depths of her soul,
And a deluge of fury will over thee roll.
Beware, and remember love turned to hate,
Will press the old friend with the sorest weight.
When over the bank the fierce torrents burst,
The mother will tread on the child she nursed.
She threatens a prison. Beware, beware,
And think of the pains that await thee there.
’Tis narrow and dark like a tyrant’s grave,
Far from it fly those who have lives to save ;
Where the foul air stifles the living breath,
Where wretches lie who are waiting for death,
The hand of the builder has fashioned there
No narrowest passage for light or air.
Plague is the gift which the close air brings,
And its floor is the soil whence misery springs.
The light of dawn never enters where
The door is closed with the key of despair.
Narrow and blacker than pitch, the chains
Are the only treasure the vault contains.
There without bread, without water, lie
The weary wretches who fain would die.
Warders watch over them, turn by turn,
And their eyes are fierce and then words are stern.
Now say, shall such an ill mansion he,
O heart-enslaver, a home for thee ?
Let not thy heart he so cruel ; spare
Thyself and open the door to her prayer.
Bend thy proud head as a reed is bent :
Banish all fear from thy heart, and consent.
Or if thy fancy perchance prefer
More winning beauty and turn from her.
To us in secret thy heart incline,
And be ours for ever as we are thine.
See, in our charms we are matchless ; see,
Moons lighting the heaven of beauty are we.
Shame makes Zulaikha her own mouth close
When we open our lips whence the honey flows.
How can Zulaikha with us compare ?
So sweet are we and so bright and fair.”
He heard the voice of the charmers, and knew
That their zeal for Zulaikha was all untrue.
They would lead him to swerve from his faith and
But more for the sake of themselves than of her.
His heart was troubled, he turned aside,
And no tender look to their looks replied.
He lifted to heaven his hands and prayed :
“ O Thou who givest the needy aid,
Friend of the humble recluse, the sure
Help and refuge of all who are pure ;
Against the oppressor a strong defence,
The lamp and beacon of innocence ;
Their wiles torment me. The bolt, the bar,
The chains of the prison were better far.
Years in a dungeon were lighter pain
Than to look on the face of these women again.
Thus our hearts grow blind that we cannot see,
And we wander farther and farther from Thee.
If Thou wilt not turn their devices aside
Who have strayed from the path and their faith denied
Who will not permit me to rest and be free —
If Thou wilt not aid me, ah, woe is me.”
For prison he prayed. Nor would God deny
The boon he sought with his eager cry.
But had Yusuf asked at His hands release,
The boy unimprisoned had gone in peace.
From the snares of the women the bird had flown,
And the pains of the dungeon he ne’er had known.